Honeybees in the news – deadly story

On April 5, Boston news stations broke the story of the results of a threeyear study by Chensheg Lu, associate professor of environmental biology at Harvard University’s Department of Environmental Health, conducted in cooperation with the WCBA members Ken Warchol, Massachusetts Bee Inspector, and Holden entomologist Richard Callahan.

Before releasing his findings to the media, Lu announced them at the monthly WCBA meeting on March 9 at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Leicester.

“I don’t think I can get 200 Harvard students to come to a Saturday lecture… kudos to you,” Lu told the capacity crowd of amateur beekeepers.

In 2009, Lu, Warchol and Callahan set up 20 hives in groups of five at four locations, treating four of each fivegroup cluster with a pesticide called Imidacloprid, manufactured by the Monsanto and Bayer corporations. Corn seeds are soaked in the chemical before planting, which translocates to the entire plant, including kernels, pollens and nectar.

Lu said Monsanto went to the Environmental Protection Agency in 2005 for permission to treat the corn seed, saying it was not harmful to mammals.

“That’s true,” Lu said, “but it’s extremely toxic to honeybees.” He said a year after the treated corn was introduced on the market, Honeybee Colony Collapse Disorder was reported world-wide, including in 70 percent of U.S. states (Massachusetts was not one of them). The hive collapse affects mostly commercial beekeepers, which feed their bees sugar water made from corn syrup.

The results of his WCBA field experiment showed a loss of 15 of the 16 hives six months after treating them with the pesticide.

Harvard will submit the study findings to the EPA, and Lu encouraged WCBA members to contact their legislators in support of banning the pesticide.

A video of Lu’s March 9 presentation may be found on worcestercountybeekeepers.com.